Seal-lock.



E. TYDBN.

SEAL LOCK.

. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2s, 1912. 1 O93 661 Patented A131221, 1914. 'y 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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bniTnn sTaTns PATENT ortica..

EMIL TYDEN, 0F HASTINGS, MICHIGAN.

SEAL-LOCK.

To all 207mm it may concern Be it known that I, EMIL TYDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hastings, in the county of Barry and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

'lhe purpose of this invention is to provide an improved form of seal lock with particular' reference to the requirements of such a seal lock as applied to railway cars.

It consist-s in the elements and features of construction shown and described and set out in the claims.

ln the drawings: Figure l is a front elevation of a lock embodying this invention having the front portion of the casing in part broken away to disclose interior details. F ig. 2 is a detail section at the line, 2 42, on Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section at the line, 3 3, on FiO'. l. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a seal adapted for use with the lock shown.

The drawings represent two forms of lock, each presenting the fundamental characteristics of this invention, the form shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4 will be first described. in this form there is provided a casing, l, which comprises bearings, 2,-2, for a sliding locking member in the form of a bolt, 3; and which also comprises a chamber in which there is located certain indicating mechanism, hereinafter mentioned as the ,indicator chamber, 4, and a seal chamber, 5j

The device will first be described without reference to the seal, which may be used or omitted according to the requirements of the particular situation in which the lock is put in service. The casing, l, is designed to be mounted upon the body of a car or other receptacle to be protected by the lock; preferably, for reasons which will hereafter appear, it is not mounted upon any sliding element as the door of the car, but upon a fixed portion which may be termed the body of the car, and which may be understood to be indicated by the timber piece indicated at 6. which represents the wall of the car body. 7 represents a hasp engaging the staple, 8, of the lock after the usual manner of securing sliding car door, the bolt, 3, being adapted to be shot through the staple in front of the hasp as represented in Fig. l.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 23, 1912.

Patented Apr. 21, 19i4.

Serial No. 716,595.

The said bolt, 3, has between the two journal bearings, 2,-2, a stop lug, 3, which is adapted to limit the throw of the bolt vertically by stopping upon said bearings at the upper and lower limits of its throw, respectively.

The lock above described may be provided with a seal for the usual purpose for which such seals are provided, that is, to prevent manipulation of the locking bolt for'unlocking the car except in such manner as to mutilate the seal, or after the seal has been mutilated, in such manner that a glance at the car will disclose the mutilation and so enable the inspector quickly to observe the fact that the locking device has been tampered with. Such a seal is desirable to prevent mere mischievous meddling with the bolts by persons who might not have any serious purpose of tampering with the contents of the car; and the seal serves in any event as an additional means of proving the fact 0f unauthorized unlocking of the car, and if the inspection is sufficiently frequent, it affords the usual means of locating the point in the line of progress of the car at which the tampering occurred.

In the form of lock above described, it is preferred to employ a seal substantially such as shown in Fig. 4, the seal being made of sheet metal haying a narrow portion, 40, and a wider portion, 4l, the narrower portion being terminated in a spring hook, 42, made by folding the sheet metal back upon itself in a sharp angle as seen in Fig. 2. The sheet metal is weakened at a line somewhere near the shoulder, 43, which is formed by reducing from the greater to the lesser width of the two ortions of a seal, such weakening being e ected by a line of small perforations, 44, extending across the seal strip, substantially in line with the shoulder, 43. The wider portion, 41, of the seal is designed to be exposed outside of the lock when the seal is inserted for guarding the lock. Said wider exposed portion of the seal may be termed the tag end and bears the various markings by which the seal is identified, comprising usually, the name or the initials of the name of the road by which the seal was applied (as indicated by the letters, T. Y. Ry.) and a serial number which denotes the particular seal as indicated by the number, 124,732, in the drawing. Other features of the tag will hereinafter be pointed out and explained.

The lock is provided with a seal chamber, 5, as stated, which comprises a narrow throat-way, 5, leading from the entrance aperture or vestibule, 5b, of said seal chamber to an enlarged portion, 5C, at the upper end of said throat-way, a shoulder, 5d, being formed at the upper end of the throatway by the widening of the cavity to form the enlargement, 5C. When the seal is thrust up through the throat-way, 5, until the end of its spring hook, 42, passes the shoulder, 5C, that spring end, which in passing through the throat has been pressed closely in alongside of the body of the seal, springs out and engages the shoulder of the seal chamber, as seen in Fig. 2, and the seal cannot then be withdrawn by the path by which it entered. In order to be withdrawn the seal must be lifted to carry the end of its hook, 42, over a short guard lug, 5e, which is formed at one lateral edge of the shoulder, 5d, see Fig. l, and which separates the space at the left hand side of said shoulder in which the end of the spring hook, 42, stands in Fig. 2, from a passage, 5f, which is parallel with and alongside of the throat-way, 5, but which instead of being thin or narrow, as is said throat-way, is as wide, or deep from front to rear, as the enlargement, 5, of the cavity above the shoulder, 5d, so that when the seal has been lifted to carry the end of its spring hook above the guard lug, 5e, and then moved over bodily sidewise intosaid wider passage, 5f, it can be withdrawn downward from the seal chamber. The bolt, 3, has rigid with it and offset from it a closure, 3b, for the seal chamber, said closure being adapted to enter and fit somewhat closely in the vestibule, 5b, of the seal chamber, as seen in Fig. 2. In'order that said closure may enter this vestibule, the bolt after being thrust down to locking position, which may be done while it stands in the position shown in the dotted line shown in Fig. 3,-that is, with the lug, 3a, riding against the vertical rib, 45, which projects from the casing directly behind the bolt 3,-and then swung around 90 to the position shown in full line in Fig. 3, at which position the said closure, 3b, is directly under the vestibule, 5b, of the seal chamber. r)The bolt is in locked position, that is, extends through the staple, 8,:guarding the hasp, 7. The bolt may now be lifted a distance equal to the depth of said vestibule, as seen in Figs. l and 2, this upward movement leaving the bolt Still engaged with the staple, S, and securing the basp, 7. The distance from the shoulder, 48, of the seal to the end of the hook, 42, is substantially equal to the distance from the lower end of the vestibule of the seal chamber to the shoulder, 5d. The closure, 3b, has a slot, 46, adapted to register with the lower end of the throat-way, 5, when the closure is opposite the vestibule, and for sealing the lock, the seal is thrust through said aperture and up into the throat-way until its shoulder, 43, strikes the lower edge of the closure, whereupon further upward movement causes the bolt to be lifted, carrying the closure into the vestibule while the seal passes up to a point at which its spring hook snaps in over the shoulder, 5d, and becoming engaged therewith, while its shoulder, 43, is engaged under the closure which is rigid with the bolt, upholds the bolt at the position at which the closure is engaged with the vestibule, preventing the bolt from being rotated. lt is then impossible to disengage the bolt by any movement without either mutilating the seal by forcibly pulling it down while its hooked end is engaged with the shoulder, 5e, or breaking oif the tag portion and thereby removing the shoulder, 43, which will leave the portion, 40, of the seal hanging in th-e seal chamber while the bolt will drop, disengaging the closure from the vestibule, and leaving the bolt free to be turned 900, after which it may be lifted to unlocked position. Then the car is to be opened by an authorized person, the tag will be forcibly torn o from the lower portion of the seal and the car unlocked in the manner indicated. The remnant of the seal remaining in the seal chamber can then be removed by pushing it upward until the hook end clears the guard lug, 5C, and then moving it over bodily into the unobstructed exit portion of the seal chamber from which it will drop out freely.

I claim l. In combination with a. lock having a seal chamber and ay locking member, a` seal comprising a lock-engaging end and a tag end; said tag end comprising a shoulder which limits the insertion of the lock-engaging end into the seal chamber; the locking member having a closure for the seal chamber formed for closing said chamber at locking position of the locking member and for being engaged at that position by said shoulder of the seal.

2. In combination with a lock comprising a casing and a locking member mounted thereon for moving from and into locking position; the casing having a `seal chamber and an opening for entry of the seal thereinto; a seal having a lock-engaging end portion adapted to be inserted through said opening into said chamber, and means by which the seal is automatically engaged aga-inst withdrawal when so inserted, the seal having also a tag end weakened for breaking ott the tag end; said tag end comprising a. shoulder which limits the insertion of the lock-engaging end into the chamber; the locking member having a closure for the seal chamber' at the locking position of the locking member; the shoulder of the seal being positioned for engaging the locking member at the position at which it closes said chamber.

3. A seal lock comprising a casing, a locking member mounted in the casing, the latter having a seal chamber provided with an entrance and exit aperture ior the sea-l, the locking member having a closure for the seal chamber positioned on said member for closing the seal eXit when at locking position; al seal adapted to be inserted in said chamber and automatically engaged against withdrawal, and when so engaged to stop the locking member against movementaway from seal-eXit-closing position.

4t. in a seal lock, in combination with a seal chamber and a locking member, a seal adapted to be inserted in the .seal chamber and automatically engaged therein against withdrawal, such seal having a shoulder which limits its movement into the chamber and which cooperates with the means by which the seal is engaged in the chamber for resisting the unlocking movement ot the locking member, the seal being weakened at a suitable line for detaching the part containing said shoulder to release the locking member.

5. A seal lock comprising a casing, a locking member mounted in the casing, the latter having a seal chamber provided with an entrance and exit aperture for the seal, and a locking member having a closure for said seal chamber positioned thereon for closing said chamber by turning movement followed by a sliding movement of the locking member to the locked position; a seal adapted to be inserted in said chamber and to be automatically engaged against withdrawal, and when so engaged to stop the locking member against reverse sliding movement.

(3. In a. seal lock, in combination with a seal chamber and a locking member, the seal chamber having a seal entrance aperture and a seal exit aperture; the locking member having a guard projection which at locked position extends over the seal entrance aperture and is itself vapertured coincidentally with the latter for admitting the seal through said guard into said entrance aperture; means by which the seal when inserted into the chamber is automatically engaged against withdrawal, the seal having a. shoulder which at such engaged position of the seal is stopped against said guard for preventing the unlocking movement of the locking member. l

7. ln a seal lock, in combination with a casing comprising a seal chamber, a locking member mounted in the casing, the seal chamber having a seal entrance aperture and a seal exit aperture, the locking member having a guard which extends over both said apertures and is itself apertured coincidentally with the entrance aperture to admit the seal therethrough, the seal chamber comprising a throat-way leading from the entrance aperture; an enlargement beyond said throat-way forming a seal-engaging shoulder at the end oi said throat-way, and an exit passage situated laterally'with respect to said throat-way and enlargement; a .seal having a portion adapted to be inserted through said throat-way provided with a spring terminal for engaging said shoulder, and a wider portion not adapted to enter said throat-way, forming a shoulder on t-he seal for stopping said guard at the limit of the inserting movement of the seal, the seal chamber having within it a guard projection extending up from the edge of the shoulder adjacent to the exit passage for stopping the engaged end of the seal against lateral movement toward the exit passage, said chamber being long enough to permit the seal to be lifted to pass said guard when the exterior shoulder of the seal is detached.

8. A seal lock comprising a casing, a locking member mounted in said casing for sliding movement and also for turning move-- ment, the casing comprising a seal chamber and the locking member having a closure for said seal chamber, the seal chamber and the slide bearings of the locking member being' relatively positioned, and said locking member and its said Closure being formed and proportioned, for bringing the closure into chamber-closing position by turning the locking member at locked p0- sition.

9. In a seal lock in combination with a casing comprising a seal chamber and bear ings for a locking member; a locking member mounted in its bearings for both sliding and turning movement, and having a closure for the seal chamber which swings with the turning movement of the locking member into position for advancing to close the seal chamber, and closing said chamber by longitudinal movement of the locking member after such swinging movement, a seal adapted to be inserted in such chamber and automatically engaged therein, and means by which when so engaged it holds said closure at chamber-closing position.

l0. In a seal lock in combination with a casing having a seal chamber, a locking member having a part which extends within the seal chamber and moves therein in the locking and unlocking movement of said member, the seal chamber having a seal entrance and a seal exit opening, the locking member being adapted to close the exit opening at locked position, the seal and said part of the locking member being adapted for automatic engagement with each other when the seal is inserted at locked position,

the seal having a. detachable part which is stopped on the casing when the seal is engaged with the locking member.

11. In a seal lock in combination with a casing having a seal chamber and a locking member having a part Which moves into the seal chamber in the locking movement and is protruded therefrom in the unlocking movement, the seal chamber having a seal entrance and a seal exit opening, the locking member being adapted to close the eXit opening at locked position and having a shoulder which is within the seal chamber at locked position, the seal having a spring terminal adapted to engage said shoulder and positioned for such engagement when the seal is inserted at locked position of the locking member, the unlocking movement of the latter being in direction to draw the seal onward in the direction in which it is inserted for such engagement, the seal being formed for being stopped on the casing against such further indrawing movement.

12. In a seal lock in combination with a casing comprising a seal chamber, a locking member having a part which moves into the seal chamber in the locking movement and is protruded therefrom in the unlocking movement, said seal chamber having a seal entrance opening and a seal exit. opening relatively positioned for permitting the seal to pass into the entrance and out through the exit Without reversal of its movement, said locking member having means for engaging the seal in the entering movement of the latter to prevent its withdrawal by reverse movement, the seal having ineans by which it is stopped on the casing after its engagement with the locking member against continuance of its movement in said entering direction.

13. A lock comprising, in combination with a casing, a locking device mounted in the casing for locking and unlocking movcment, the casing comprising a seal chamber having a seal entrance aperture and a seal exit aperture, the locking member l1aving means for closing the seal exit aperture at locked position; a seal and means b v which when inserted in the seal chamber at locked position. of the locking member, it is automatically engaged against withdrawal, and having an additional means which at such engaged position engages the locking member against unlocking move ment.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Chicago, Illinois, this 10th day of August 1912.

EMIL TYDEN.

Titnesses Giras. S. BURTON, M. GERTRUDE ADY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

